Minecraft: From Dust
by MTViv
Summary: [Description to be decided]
1. Chapter 1

Black. An expanse of nothing but bits of dust amongst the seemingly endless space. Without light. Without object. And yet...not without spirit. Someone did observe. But how, they did not know. They had no eyes, no body, no form, no manifestation of being at all. And yet she could see.  
She looked up. Or was it down? Left? Right? There was no way to tell, nor did it matter compared to whom they just discovered. They were the same, or so it seemed. His existence was incomprehensible. Yet she knew Him. And He knew her. There was a strangely permanent bond between the two.  
She spotted the flecks of dust. When had they started moving toward her? The patient pace grew faster. Faster. Before she new it more and more dust swirled into her to the point that, for the first time, she experienced an unpleasant emotion. "Fear."  
As the dust began to compact around her vision, wind rushed and her surroundings began to change. Specks of colors, grays to browns to greens and blues.

_"Do not be afraid. Through struggle that teaches, you will attain my glory."_

The dust compacted tighter and more solid. She could feel it. A stifling squeeze of the lungs, a feeling that radiated heavier every second. Through the new horizon, a brilliant golden light rose above and held her eyes captive...

"GAH-" Lorathana shot up out of her sleep and gasped for air. Her hand pressed on her lower ribcage as she felt the blood flow through her body again. For the umpteenth time her circulation was cut off during her sleep. "Stupid bed...guess I need a new mattress."  
The woman grumbled and tugged her curtain closed to get the dreaded sun out of her face. Just until she could fully wake up at least. She scratched her side and rubbed her face before heading downstairs to raid food storage for breakfast. Like a bear coming out of hibernation, Lorathana piled a few apples, some bread, and smoked meats in her arm and chowed down.  
Having breakfast on her balcony was part of her morning routine. To enjoy the pretty sunrise on the shady side of her treehouse. Her breath turned to steam in the air. Being in a mountainscape, the mornings tended to be a little chilly. But she enjoyed it, as it perked up her senses and made her feel like a different creature.  
Lorathana crunched and chewed through her meal as she watched the trees in the valley below. The wind made them dance right along with her scraggly bed head and nightgown. Suddenly, her chewing slowed. Her eyes squinted with the sight of movement in the trees she watched and she leaned foreward with an elbow on her knee.  
_There it is!_  
She gulped down what she'd been eating and immediately jumped to her feet. Apple cores were tossed into the woods and her feet thudded on the wooden floor all the way back to her room upstairs. Lorathana rushed through the rest of her routine. Quickly brushing her hair, getting dressed, and stuffing her bag with supplies. Within minutes she was out the door and down the ladder. "Another chance!" Her excitement echoed. She walked along the path down to the village with a spring in her step and raised her notebook to the sky, as if asking for the sun to bless today's journey.

She would need all the luck she could get to finally cross paths with that ever elusive creature. She'd been spotting it across the valley for the past few months. But those instances were few and far between, and with each search she came back with an empty notebook. Maybe, she hoped, today would be different.

_[][Author's Notes][]_

_I'm giving this story one more go. Hopefully I can finish it this time. Or at least make something acceptable if I don't. I'm making this story mature just in case because I don't know how intense it'll get in terms of violence or language. (I don't plan on writing anything overly sexual. Just some tame romance.) In any case, I hope you all enjoy. Thank you for reading._


	2. Chapter 2

[Author's note: I wanted to make an actual full chapter, but I haven't gotten around to it and now I'm sick. But I don't want to go too long without giving some sort of update, so I'll go ahead and post what I have. Merry Christmass everyone :) ]

Smoke billowed from chimneys across the village as the inhabitants started their day. Families cooked their breakfast while others began their work. A young villager and his little brother ran outside to play with the other children in the streets. "So what should we do today big brother? Play tag like yesterday?" The little one asked. Big brother held up a leather-bound ball, "I was thinking going out to the field today. How about it?"  
The thought of a nice relaxing game of catch with just the two of them made little brother smile. The other kids seemed to bombard his big brother every time they went out, which meant they didn't get much time to bond. A lot of kids looked up to him. Big brother _is _great after all. He new just what to do and how to keep all the kids in line. The two of them took the back roads to the west entrance where the field was. Big brother was just walking into the field when little brother's face suddenly brightened, "Oh- Lora! Lora, hi!" The boy gave a wide-arched wave of the hand and ran up the path to greet her, big bro in hot pursuit.  
"Peirce! Simon!" Lorathana kneeled down and caught Peirce in her arms for the biggest little hug in the world. "I heard yesterday that your big brother _single-handedly _ stopped a fight, huh?" She grinned and Peirce began a giddy bounce. "Yeah, yeah! The mean kids tried to take over our game again and pushed Rosie down. Big brother got them to go away but we wanted to beat them up because they made Rosie cry." Lorathana frowned, "Is that so..." Lora watched the boy nod with a look of frustration. After a moment she sighed and gave Peirce another warm hug. "Well...it may suck but its good to go for a peaceful resolution first. There's plenty of ways to deal with bullies other than brute force." She ruffled Pierce's hair with a mischievous grin.  
"Those meanies _suck_." Pierce replied bluntly.  
"Pierce!" Simon said in shock. Lora heaved as she held in a laugh with great difficulty. She looked down for a moment to choke down her reaction, then cleared her throat. Simon gave her a scolding look with folded arms. She shook her head with a smile and pat Peirce's hair. Lora stood up and hung her bag high up on her shoulder. "Hopefully after yesterday's intervention they won't suck anymore." "What's..a itrevenshin?" Perice asked. Lorathana chuckled, "Your brother can teach you that later. Go on and run around! Its perfect weather for it."  
"Okay!" Pierce snatched the ball from Simon's hand and ran off into the grassy field. "Hey! Sigh..." Simon turned to Lora who watched the child expend his first burst of energy. They both knew there were many more to be had. "You know he's gonna repeat that all day. Even in his sleep, I'm sure." Simon complained with a hushed tone. "Sorry about that, heh...Oh. And if those jerks bother you guys again," her hand rested on Simon's shoulder, her tone serious, "You tell _me_. Got it?" Simon looked at her for a moment, swallowed, and nodded. Satisfied, Lora pat his shoulder before going to take her leave.  
Simon perked up, "Wait, where are you going? Exploring again?"  
"Hmm...More like a really hard game of hide-and-seek." Lora replied.  
Simon's head reared in confusion. But then he smirked, "Too cool to play catch with us eh?" Lora laughed, "Yeaaaah, I gotta get going before I'm fashionably late. I'm already pushed for time." She stuck her tongue out. "See ya, Peirce! When you throw the ball, aim at his feet and throw it really hard!"  
"Okay!" Perice was already armed and ready.  
"...Huh? Pierce WAIT- AGH!" Simon narrowly dodged his little brother's surprisingly accurate strike. Lora laughed as she jogged on.  
"You're a jerk, Lora!" Simon shouted, holding the ball in the air so Peirce couldn't get it. "Don't get lost again!" He shouted sarcastically.  
"Whatever!" She called back. And soon she disappeared among the hustle and bustle of the village.

With a thud and the groan of an irritated Llama, Lora stumbled out of the streets and into the path that led to the east entrance of the village. She made a quick apology to the trader for bumping into his llama and promptly jogged on her way until she was out of ear shot of the village noise. "Jeez...good thing I took the back roads. Business must be booming today." Which, as annoying as it could be, was a good thing. The more business the better the village morale. Lora observed the sun's position. Her visit to the blacksmith for tool repair had already taken up another hour...During which she concluded she should keep a pristine set of tools for these special journeys in the future.  
With an inhale and exhale of fresh air to relax and concentrate, she took out a parchment that was thick with folds. She opened the parchment to reveal a detailed map that she'd drawn over the past year. Small, bold x's marked the places she'd seen the mysterious creature previously, and near those spots were labels of bases she made nearby. "Hm..." She mumbled and knelt with the map laid over her thigh. In a smaller pouch was a few thin pieces of coal for writing, which she took out and tapped the parchment. "I saw it here this time..." She drew another x, "...So the best place to set up another temporary base would be...here." Lora marked the new spot with the name "B4"  
From there she calculated a quick and hopefully safe route, which she would mark down later after she'd actually walked the path. Once she memorized the landmarks, she folded and tucked her map and coal back into their spots and set off on her journey with pickaxe in hand.


End file.
